Why do people steal?

Originally posted by Thequ1ck
I know the most obvious answer is because they want or need something
but is that all there is to it?

its because their mother didn't love them enough of course 😕

Originally posted by Thequ1ck
I know the most obvious answer is because they want or need something
but is that all there is to it?

People steal for a number off reason

(1) Because they can
(2) Because they want something but canlt afford it, moblie phone for example
(3) Because they need something, but can't afford it.....food for example
(4) Because of peer pressure, to join this gang you must steal ....
(5) Because they are lazy and think everything should be givern to them
(6) Because they are evil.......

The question is what should we do to each type.....someone may steal because they need to eat, I would not agree treating that person the same way as somone that steals because they can for exa,ple

Originally posted by RSMA1234
People steal for a number off reason

(1) Because they can
(2) Because they want something but canlt afford it, moblie phone for example
(3) Because they need something, but can't afford it.....food for example
(4) Because of peer pressure, to join this gang you must steal ....
(5) Because they are lazy and think everything should be givern to them
( ...[text shortened]... not agree treating that person the same way as somone that steals because they can for exa,ple

What about the rich kid who is so starved of attention from her parents that she steals make up for a bit of attention?

Originally posted by eamon o
its because their mother didn't love them enough of course 😕

Or validate their sense of self importance by buying them Nike shoes

Originally posted by shavixmir
Hunger.

Indoctrination that material things are important.

Society which dictates that the more you have the better you are.

Kleptomania.

Avoiding a hard days work.

Not wanting to work for the man.

Not wanting the man to profit from your labour.

Wealth (as in the resources the West steals from 3rd world nations, but doesn't call it theft, but free market capitalism).

And last, but not least, just to piss people off!

Good list chav thnx.

The last one was most interesting. What is the power aspect of stealing?

I'm curious if cunning and thriftiness are part of what makes us up as humans.
I imagine it played a substantial part in mate-selection in the past and
would go some way to explaining why women always go for the 'bad guys'.

I reckon there's definitely a power aspect involved with theft.

Originally posted by Thequ1ck
I reckon there's definitely a power aspect involved with theft.

I agree. When I was about twenty I knew someone who was a burglar. But he didn't work alone. He had a little crew. And I think he did it, first and foremost, because he liked leading his crew into dangerous, exciting, ingenious situations of his own design. Under different circumstances, and if he'd had the slightly different kind of bravery one needs for aggressive physical violence, he might have led some kind of 'crew' into organized violence surrounding soccer fixtures. As for the victims of his burglaries, well they just did not matter. He was a nihilist. He was simply on a power trip. He was intelligent, kind and generous to his friends, pretty well-heeled - he made a fair whack out of his 3 market stalls, selling and mending watches. But he just didn't give a fig for people he did not know. He was a classic creature of Thatcherism.

Originally posted by twhitehead
Are we talking about burglary or do we include downloading software, songs and movies off the internet? I notice that even the most respectable members of society seem to have no problem with pirated software.

I steal in this way. A lot. I do it because I can do it with impunity. There is zero possibility of me having to answer for these crimes as long as I stay where I am and don't try to move what I have stolen to a different country. And because I don't ever have to face my victims. And because I feel I need the things I steal. And because I cannot afford what I want. And because many of the things that I steal are not available here. And because it has become a part of my everday life. Because I don't really think about it anymore. Because it is very easy. Because... because...

Because some sort of twist in the fabric of time, space & morality seems to have enveloped software, songs and movies - right or wrong, actually true or not true - but it does seem to have enveloped these things (no self-justification intended), because I would most certainly not steal anything other than digital data of this kind. I would never steal money or objects from another person. I would never commit burglary. I would never commit robbery. I disapprove of that kind of thing without reservation. But my own behaviour viz a viz software, songs and movies? I approve of it, of course. And I do not disapprove of other people doing it.

I see myself as a "respectable member of society". But I steal. I steal all the time. I'm stealing right now as I type this (a Richard Linklater film called "Slacker" is downloading). If someone tells me that I am not a respectable member of society, well then, I do not have a leg to stand on. But as long as all the criteria above are safely in place, I do not see myself changing my ways.

I have the capacity to feel guilty about many things - and pretty much always do when circumstances call for it. But I don't feel guilty about software, songs and movies at all. I can't really explain why I suspend my own moral code for just this one catagory of property. But buried somewhere in there may be an insight into why people steal.

Originally posted by Thequ1ck
I know the most obvious answer is because they want or need something
but is that all there is to it?

lack of uniformity in k-6 standards.

Originally posted by RSMA1234
People steal for a number off reason

(1) Because they can
(2) Because they want something but canlt afford it, moblie phone for example
(3) Because they need something, but can't afford it.....food for example
(4) Because of peer pressure, to join this gang you must steal ....
(5) Because they are lazy and think everything should be givern to them
( ...[text shortened]... not agree treating that person the same way as somone that steals because they can for exa,ple

I stole and shop lifted all my life and never got caught.I first learned to steal from getting lessons off of an old US TV series called "It Takes a Thief"starring Robert Wagner.Everyone loved him in the episoes,especially the women,so i did it for attention,and the thrill.Never needed anything I stole and always had great paying jobs all my life to pay for anything.I've never been in any major dept,never married ,no child support,no big car loans,no morgage,just a modest apartment and i make around $60,000 a year US.
But I'll still steal little things like Candy,Razor blades,switch price tags on items.I use a false arm in the christmas season,with a glove on it,and put all kinds of neat things in the arm with my free arm swinging under my coat.I took a lock picking course and i'm pretty good at it.I once opened 7 car doors and left the doors wide open in a heavy rain just for fun.One time I went into a grocery store with 4 large brown paper bags from that store tucked in my waist(in the winter)while i wearing a long coat.In one of the pockets was a small stapler and old sales slips from the store.I pushed a shopping buggy into the store and went shopping for only the most expensive steaks,lobster,scallops,clams,shrimp,crab and many more items.
I found a little cul-de-sac in the store that closed my view off from the other shoppers and store personnel.They stored soda in there.I had to be extra quick....I pulled out the store bags from my waist,slapped them open,and quickly placed all the items in the bags,closed them up with the stapler and attached sales slips.I left the other side of the store through the sporting goods area,right past the security guard standing at the door.What a thrill!And what a party i had that night!You know,food tastes better when you steal it!(All 400 dollars worth!)Plus,even if i was caught ,the guard wouldn't have been able to grab me,beause back in those days(1978)there were alot of fat guards without weapons then,no store cameras(atleast at that store) and I could run like the wind.I was the fastest sprint runner in college.I would have ran behind the store,went into the woods(which i knew like the back of my hand)and disappeared into the thicket.
So I love to steal,but do not do it very much anymore.The security is much better nowdays...what a shame!
I did one thing a few weeks ago however,not exactly shoplifting,but had a nice dinner at an out of the way diner,for FREE of course!
Here goes....This scam takes 2 people.I go into a diner(a crowded diner,like on a saturday night).I sit at the stools up by the counter,not at a booth.i order what ever i want...the works,and dessert too!My associate in crime comes in too and sits aside of me,but we are not supposed to know one another.we do not chat with each other,or even look at one another.He just orders coffee...nothing else.He reads the newspaper while i'm gorging on my food.Just about the same time as i'm finishing I ask the waitress for my check and so does my associate in crime.So now there are 2 checks sitting on the counter.One for 30+ dollars(my meal and dessert)and this guy sitting aside of me...his check is a dollar for the coffee.The guy with the coffee check asks the waitress..."where is the bathroom,i've never been here before" and the waitress points at the other end of the diner.he leaves to go to the bathroom,but he hasen't paid yet,his check is sitting close to my check on the counter yet.After looking around and making sure the waitress is at the other end of the diner waiting on other people,I take the coffee check and go up to the register and pay for coffee(one dollar) and leave.The other guy comes back that only had coffee and prpares to go to the register,but looks at the check and calls the waitress over..."waitress,this isn't my check,I only had coffee!"Neither the diner or the police can make this guy pay for a meal,when it was clear he only had coffee!hell,another guy he was talking too,plus the waitress will vouch for that!The guy who left the diner(me) stole the coffee receit and did a crime,not the guy drinking the coffee!Right?See?100 miles down the coast,just swith roles,and you friend eats for free this time!
Ahhhhh..crime,i love it!

Originally posted by Vanquish
I stole and shop lifted all my life and never got caught.I first learned to steal from getting lessons off of an old US TV series called "It Takes a Thief"starring Robert Wagner.Everyone loved him in the episoes,especially the women,so i did it for attention,and the thrill.Never needed anything I stole and always had great paying jobs all my life to pay for ...[text shortened]... ust swith roles,and you friend eats for free this time!
Ahhhhh..crime,i love it!

You'd do all that for a stinkin $10 MEAL? Grow some brass. Rob everyone in the joint, make a couple thousand bucks. and feel like a real man. You stinkin cheap bastard.

GRANNY.

Originally posted by smw6869
You'd do all that for a stinkin $10 MEAL? Grow some brass. Rob everyone in the joint, make a couple thousand bucks. and feel like a real man. You stinkin cheap bastard.

GRANNY.

granny...you better put you 'specks on'...In wrote...$30 meal,not $10 dollars.Plus the smart thief steals small,that way there usually is no legal followup because the diner isn't losing much money and legal fee's aren't worth trying to recover 30 dollars.That was only a belly filler during college anyway.Hey,the grocery theft was a few hundred dollars...i mean,you can only put so much in one shopping cart anyway!My false arm trick works well.I reach out between the buttons on my coat pull some expensive cologne or watches in and fill the hollow arm(with the stuffed glove on the end) with my free real arm inside my coat.Merry Christmas!It works great in State Stores.That Dom Perignon at 120 a bottle tasted great,especially when it was free!

Originally posted by Vanquish
granny...you better put you 'specks on'...In wrote...$30 meal,not $10 dollars.Plus the smart thief steals small,that way there usually is no legal followup because the diner isn't losing much money and legal fee's aren't worth trying to recover 30 dollars.That was only a belly filler during college anyway.Hey,the grocery theft was a few hundred dollars...i ...[text shortened]... in State Stores.That Dom Perignon at 120 a bottle tasted great,especially when it was free!

Well, in that case you're doing just fine. You're still a cheap bastard though. Steal big.... live big. I need a nap. Where's my Jaggy? Keep up the good work.

GRANNY.